It’s Tuesday and I’m already thinking about the weekend.. Last weekend we tried out our new pizza baking steel! Earlier we owned a pizza baking stone. It worked well, but after a few uses it cracked in the middle of the baking process! This time we went for a baking steel. 8 kilos of steel should last for a few years.

Put all the dry ingredients (with exception of the salt) into a mixing bowl. Add water and olive oil and mix well for a good 5 minutes, until you have a smooth dough. Add the salt and mix for an additional 2-3 minutes. Let the dough rest under a tea towel or lid for an hour or so. In the mean time, you can start up your oven to heat the baking steel properly. 🙂 Bake the pizzas at maximum heat (240°c in my oven).

Tomatoes ready for baking!

I am really fond of tomatoes, not just in the sauce but also as a topping. Before starting on the dough, I usually bake some cherry tomatoes in olive oil and sea salt. You can use any herbs you like with them! Bake on low heat (125°c) for 60 minutes, and use as a topping. This really brings out the taste!

Once the dough has doubled in size, fold it over a couple of times, before cutting it up into portion sizes. You can make 3 larger pizzas – or like me, make portion pizzas. This dough can make about 8 smaller pizzas, which fit 4 at a time on my baking steel. This way the kids can choose their own topping. Great fun!

The toppings

Have everything ready to throw on as you start assembling your pizza. Once you pop the first few in the oven, they are done in a few minutes! Here is our choice of topping for this evening. 🙂

Sauce goes on first, then follow up with a cheese of your liking. We went for a fresh Mozzarella cheese this time, but you can also use a cheese with a stronger taste. Maybe a mix!

Other toppings we used were Serrano ham, olives and basil leaves. Your imagination is the limit. 😉

Our pizza steal is coated with a non stick surface, which rendered our stainless steel pizza paddle useless. We don’t want any scratches! Buy a wooden paddle if you end up getting this type of pizza steel. 🙂

Keep an eye on your pizzas as they bake, this part goes quickly. 3-5 minutes depending on the heat in your oven.

Top it of with sour cream and garlic sauce or even better – drizzle over the olive oil from your oven baked cherry tomatoes. 🙂 Serve with a fresh side of salad. Muy bien!